Towing with an EV - trip report
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It really doesn’t enable that at all. The charger is a) completely independent of the supply company b) does not have to have any kind of monitoring or maintenance by a third party to be classed as smart c) doesn’t not prohibit the use of any kind of “dumb” charger, d) prevent the user from disabling any kind of smart features.
The entire point of a smart charger is to give users the tools to charge a car using the cheapest (most abundant and green) energy available, without having to get up in the middle of the night, and to allow for possible temporary turning off of chargers at peak times to ease load on the grid.
Anyone charging a car at home is almost certainly doing this already as it is significantly cheaper to charge your car at night.
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I rarely run my towcar down to under 1/4 tank which leaves me a towing range of around 85 miles, the thought of arriving with a 20 mile range with the current charging infrastructure would need some adjustment in thinking for me at least. What if there's a traffic jam, a diversion, a headwind I can see that preplanning relieves stress but I guess we all have different thresholds 😉 A neighbour with a Jag EV has complained of several inoperable charge points on his longer journeys plus one instance of incompatible software where he needed to visit a dealer to update in order to work with some specific charge points. I know it will eventually come to us towers but I don't think I will be an early adopter.
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This is a really useful report. Many thanks for taking the time to put it together.
Several of my golfing friends own or have ordered EVs as “Company cars” (salary sacrifice). It’s rather a no-brainer at the moment with the minimal BIK tax.
Towing a caravan is about the toughest trial for an EV and it will be a while before it becomes financially viable for most caravanners to adopt an EV rather than a diesel car, however, the fact is that most journeys in the UK are short distance. I have owned an EV for 3 years and have only once used a public charger. I charge on a cheap rate over night so the cost is just over 1p per mile.
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We charge during the day, we're not on the economy overnight rates. We don't need to charge up every day and it's usually just a top up charge. So the draw isn't too long or expensive. I believe our day rates are less than those on overnight economy rates where day rates cost more. Either way are charge usage isn't too high although economy rates are good if you've got them.
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Hi Chocolate Trees, Only just come across this and, like others, appreciate not just the time you have spent but the measured and even handed comments you make.
Like most things in life peoples thinking will be influenced by what they want to do-and inertia!
I would be able to manage with an EV, until I need to travel longer distances towing,.but do I want to make the change now or wait a while?-most likely wait, as improvements are pretty constant.
But that wont remove the stress of setting off on a journey-my most frequent longer distance trip is to Stoke Bruerne, the latest being last week-knowing that I have to stop at least twice and will almost certainly have to unhitch my van.
An added concern, looking at the Zap Map today, is the number of charge points out of use, I looked at my area and the two most likely places I would be heading-Truro & Plymouth. Not maybe for me but as we do get one or two visitors they may find it an issue.
So, for me, its likely a decision that wont have to be made till we want to change the current car, an Audi Q5 2L diesel.
I did have a Q4 EV for a couple of days and while OK that was it however, speaking to the salesman he asked what would it take to persuade me and I said something like my Q5 to which he replied that he would expect to see me when the Q6 arrives in 2022!
Just need to have a bit more luck on the lottery but thanks again for the time spent and effort you have made to raise awareness.
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I remember a similar panic in France a few years ago when the French workers blocked ports & stopped fuel(petrol/diesel) from being distributed around France, that too created travel issues🤷🏻♂️, it happens irregularly but it does happen.
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Did anyone else listen to 'You and Yours' on Radio 4 the other day? It was devoted to a phone-in from people who owned or were thinking of buying electric cars. It was enough to put you off. Owners were pretty happy with the latest cars but were scathing about the charging network which they were finding inadequate and frequently out of action. One woman had to book into a hotel on Boxing Day night because she was completely unable to find a usable charging point on her journey home. The overall implication was, buy one if you are going to use it within a 50 mile radius of home but otherwise forget it unless you are willing to content with continuous hassle; also, the government needs to establish control over the charging network if there isn't going to be utter chaos as more electric vehicles are bought.
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Kentman. I listened, as an ev owner and thought that many of the people who phoned in didn't know much about EVs, nor did the BBC, otherwise they might have been able to respond to some of the less than knowledgeable responses.
Going into 2022 the lack of working charge points is still holding things back. However we took the plunge four years ago and the one person on the programme who noticed how quiet it was in lockdown and how pollution dropped dramatically got nearest to the good reasons for buying an EV. We need to cut down on carbon emissions and we'll benefit from noise reduction too, amongst other plus points, we'll hear the birds and will breathe cleaner air, not a bad thing surely?
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Kentman. I suppose I listened to the bits that made sense to me...
but until more take the plunge we're not going to get the truly experienced responses that help people. I was sorry to hear about the lady who couldn't charge up anywhere, that's a very unusual situation even with the lack of charge points. We met someone with a Tesla at Cornwall Services in a similar situation but he hadn't left himself without enough charge to get somewhere else.Anyway, at least they aired some views.
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Thanks for the pointer. Will have a listen.
Just started.
1st caller. An EV owner of 7 years, admitted his EV (a Tesla model S) was quite pricey. Admitted he had come close to running out of charge once, in Cornwall. Lives in Cumbria and chargers from home.Caller 2. Not an EV driver but holds a lot of opinions on greenness of EVs, cost of EVs and possible future cost of electricity based on no actual experience or evidence and in contradiction to actual facts.
This is going to be very annoying…
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Somewhat like using CT tbh🤷🏻♂️, the most vociferous are those with no experience of the subject. Caller 2’s are however in abundance☺️
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Brue wrote "and we'll benefit from noise reduction too"
Not as much as one might expect. Tyre noise is the biggest contributor to traffic noise.
My brother has a Kia Niro EV, which upon a bit of cursory research, seems the best for range/cost but still not cheap. Range isn't a problem for him as he seldom goes anywhere significant, the most distant being about 50 miles. If I had one, it would be just about doable to visit my daughter, who lives in a terraced house in London a 140 mile round trip, and get home again. Dark, cold and wet conditions would produce range anxiety.
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CY - you are right, above about 10 mph tyre noise is predominant on the outside. But the bigger win for me is in the cabin. No engine noise is serene for driving. It’s fascinating how quickly you realise that some road surfaces are soooo much quieter than others for the users.
I think you would be surprised at how little “range anxiety” you actually suffer from. I don’t at all. The range meter in mine (basically Google maps) is so accurate (erring on the side of caution) I can plan my drive to arrive with less than 2% (about 4 miles) spare and be absolutely confident I will make it. And if I decide that I can’t, I pull over and charge for as long as I need until I can make it.
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I'm afraid you're wrong and so is the person who liked your post. I respect all those with a variety of experiences on CT but we also have a diesel motorhone, with a good Mercedes cab, the overall noise hits us when we use it. When we switch on the ev there is silence and we can hear the tyres travelling but it's certainly not noisy in any sense of the usual diesel/petrol experience.. Good road surfaces can be felt by all travellers but EVs remain quiet when driving and don't produce noise pollution.
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Absolutely this Brue. My PHEV (Volvo V60) is very quiet when the diesel engine is running, but even quieter when it’s on electric only. And the polestar is even quieter again, mainly because of additional cabin insulation and special low noise tyres.
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and in my humble opinion you are wrong. As CY states above, electric cars still make a load of road noise from their tyres. You're comparing what is basically a van with a caravan stuck to the back .... of course it's noisy ... with a car. I can tell a noise difference if I have the back seats down in my ML which is due to road noise, not engine noise.
Sorry ADavid .... it looks like I copied from you! 😂
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Brue
I have a Lexus 3.5 petrol, you have to rev the engine to hear it as it is that quiet ticking over honestly as quiet as a Church mouse........but road noise from the tyres is very,very evident!......Asking only, are you saying the EV does not get that or not so much as a petrol or diesel
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The varying road noise on different road surfaces is evident whatever method is used to power our vehicles. It's not a phenomenon particular to EVs. Surely we all discovered this decades ago?
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T W
I know for a fact that the roads in Cornwall are in a far better state than the ones in Herefordsire and many other Counties that suffer from frosts during the winter. But I ask the question is the road noise level a lot less in your EV compared to when you had a petrol or a diesel vehicle ?
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I don’t have an EV. You're mistaken there, ADP.
I'm not sure the validity of your comment about the state of Cornish roads being better than others would bear scrutiny either.
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Well put Brue, I sit up & read thoroughly all you ‘boots on the ground’ folk as you are speaking from experience. The ‘caller 2’s’ are just white noise. I hope you & ChocT continue to enlighten us. Thank you.
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